Utility and decorative sheet material and method of making the same



Nov. 10, 1936.

E. A. CORBIN, JR ET AL UTILITY AND DECO Fil ed Oct. 24, 1954 K mw wm W N NH W M r r W Mmwm 5w 3 Patented Nov. 10, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UTILITY AND DECORATIVE SHEET MATE- RIAL AND SAME METHOD OF MAKING THE Application October 24, 1934, Serial No. 749,696

12 Claims.

Our invention relates to a new and useful sheet material in a decorated or undecorated form and the method of making the same, the present application being in part a division from our copending application No. 705,808, filed January 8, 1934, on a floor covering, and in part an addition to and an improvement upon the disclosure in the co-pending application referred to.

Our invention further relates to a decorative sheet material which is adapted for a multitude of uses, according to the thickness or texture of the material used in the preparation thereof, our

material, due to our novel method of making the name, being capable of being manufactured and sold at a fraction of the cost of corresponding sheet materials heretofore known.

Our invention still further relates to a novel sheet material and the method of making the same, whereby a novel product is produced which is capable of being washed, and which is acid and fire-proof.

Our invention still further relates to a novel sheet material and the method of making the same, whereby a highly durable and flexible sheet material is produced.

Our invention still further relates to a sheet material which when intended for decorative purposes may be produced with an unlimited number of artistic designs appearing thereon, .either on the surface thereof or having the artistic design penetrating entirely through the thickness of the sheet material, so that when the sheet material is subjected to wear the original design appearing on the surface thereof will continue to be visible in clear outline and freshness of appearance until the sheet material is worn entirely through. It has heretofore been attempted to produce sheet material, such as floor covering and the like, having the artistic design extending through the entire thickness of the sheet material, but such attempts have been unsuccessful due to the extreme expense of the process or due to the impossibility or difficulty of keeping the colors or the design from running together. Furthermore, the processes heretofore used have involved repeated steps of printing with different colors to produce the complete design and have involved the use of pressure to force the various colors of which the design is produced through the thickness of the sheet material. According to our novel process these disadvantages are overcome, since we have discovered a novel method, which is hereinafter explained, by means of which the color of any printed inexpensive tissue paper now available on the market can (Cl. ll-33) be made to penetrate the thickness of the base of the sheet material used, without the use of pressure and without the use of successiveoperations of printing. Another disadvantage of the methods heretofore known resided in the fact that the design in one or more successive printing operations had to be printed from a die made .for the particular design, which greatly increased the cost and necessarily limited the number of designs possible to produce. According to our invention we eliminate entirely the cost of making any dies for printing the design on the sheet material and, at the same time, we are enabled to produce practically an unlimited number of decorative sheet materials, since, according to our novel method, we transfer the water-color printed designs now available on thin inexpensive tissues, and available in hundreds of thousands of designs, directly and by a single operation on the sheet material to be produced, thereby not only greatly increasing the variety of designs available but also reducing the cost of production to a negligible minimum.

Our invention further relates to a novel sheet material which, while embodying all of the foregoing advantages, is also translucent, thereby producing very attractive effects which make our sheet material capable of being used for window curtains, lamp shades, etc.

Our invention still further relates to a novel sheet material which can be produced by the lamination of two or more separate sheets to produce a thoroughly integrated single sheet, or which can be produced by the treatment of a single sheet of the desired thickness according to our novel process.

Our invention further relates to the production of rubber impregnated paper as distinguished from rubber-coated paper or other fibrous material, the fibers of which are relatively widely rubber, we having discovered that paper now available on the market and known as Japanese tissue (which as at present advised is a paper made from ,the pulp of Intsumator or Kozu plants) eapacle of being impregnated with rubber in the form of liquid latex in a manner which renders such tissue transparent, waterproof, and of great tensile strength and pliability, it being impossible to peel off a sheet of rubber from the treated Japanese tissue, as it is possible to do when ordinary paper is treated with liquid latex.

In the accompanying drawing we have attempted to illustrate diagrammatically and on a greatly enlarged scale certain phases of our invention, but due to the impossibility of illustrating all phases of the invention by means of drawings we have attached hereto specimens of the various products as used according to our invention.

Fig. 1 represents a plan view of a strip of laminated paper embodying our invention, the upper layers being broken off to show the construction.

Fig. 2 represents a side elevation, on a greatly enlarged scale, showing the integrated assembly illustrated in Fig. 1, and also showing how the color of the uppermost layer penetrates completely through the laminated sheet.

Fig. 3 represents a plan view of a piece of Japanese tissue or paper prior to treatment.

Fig. 4 represents a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the same sheet after it is treated with latex and rendered transparent and water-proof.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts, I represents a relatively thick loosely knit fibrous sheet material, such as blotting paper or the like, which is extremely inexpensive and available in all sizes, thicknesses and textures. 2 designates a relatively thin sheet of Japanese tissue and 3 designates any conventional printed thin paper of the type used for lining candy boxes and the like, the

- sheet 3 carrying any ornamental designs 4, 5, 6,

etc. The design on the sheet 3 is printed in water-colors and is extremely inexpensive and is available on the market in hundreds of thousands of various designs. In carrying out our invention the sheets I, 2 and 3, in any desired design and size, are superimposed and then are treated with liquid latex (or vice versa) in any suitable bath and passed through any suitable rollers of any conventional type to saturate and press the sheets I, 2 and 3 together. The liquid latex penetrates through three sheets I, 2 and 3 and draws the color of the designs 4, 5 and 6 from the top sheet 3 through the lower sheets 2 and I, as shown in Fig. 2. With the color of the designs 4, 5 and 6 running through the lower sheets 2 and I it is optional with us to retain the sheet 3 or to peel it off prior to drying and vulcanization. After the sheets I, 2 and 3 have been laminated and after the color of the designs 4, 5 and 6 have been drawn through the laminated construction, the complete sheet as shown in Fig. 2 is vulcanized and coated with varnish which gives the laminated sheet shown in Fig. 2 a wearing surface and a brighter appearance. While we have found that the use of the Japanese tissue sheet 2 intermediate the sheets I and 3 is helpful, it is within the scope of our invention to omit the sheet 2 entirely and to laminate the backing I with the design bearing sheet 3 by means of latex to unite the sheets I and 3 and to draw the color of the sheet 3 through the sheet I, retaining the sheet 3 on top of the sheet I or peeling it off at will. In Fig. 3 the sheet 2 of Japanese tissue, plain or decorated, is unlaminated with any other sheet and is merely treated with latex to produce the tough waterproof and transparent sheet I- shown in Fig. 4. This forms an inexpensive substitute for cellophane and is superior to cellophane, in that it is waterproof.

' In the preparation of floor covering according to our invention we utilize the relatively heavy backing I of any suitable fibrous loosely knit material and we superimpose thereon any desired in expensive, very thin, printed tissue paper available on the market, with or without the interposition of the Japanese tissue sheet 2 and we laminate the sheets with latex, thereby producing a floor covering in which the color of the printed design extends completely through the relatively thick backing I, thereby producing a floor covering which presents the same ornamental effect regardless of the extent of wear to which it is subjected. It will further be seen by a specimen prepared according to this disclosure that the color on the back of the laminated sheet is substantially as clear and as distinct as it is on the top surface thereof and that the colors of the printed design on the top sheet 3 do not run together and are not in any way adversely affected during the laminating process. In the case of floor covering, with the top sheet 3 peeled off or retained, and with or without the use-of the intermediate sheet 2, the completed product is coated with a wearing varnish surface to impart a lustrous surface to the floor covering and further facilitate its repeated washing.

In the manufacture of lamp shades, window curtains, and similar articles, where excessive weight or thickness is neither desirable nor necessary, a relatively thin backing I is used, and again, with or without the interposition of the Japanese tissue sheet 2 and with the sheet 3 peeled off or retained, we produce a very close simulation of expensive painted parchment, of the type of material which will be produced for curtains, lamp shades, etc., and which, when held up against a source of light, will appear to present a very attractive translucent appearance.

The word latex" or liquid rubber, as used in this specification, is intended to designate the commercial product available on the market and variously known as vultex, rubber-tex, etc., which is in the form of a liquid rubber compound capable of being vulcanized after application by being subjected to the necessary heat or by exposure to air, it being further understood that after the sheet material made according to our invention is completed, it is subjected to a proper vulcanizing operation in any suitable manner.

When it is desired to transfer the color from the surface sheet 3 onto the surface of the backing or when it is desired to have the color of the design on the surface sheet 3 extend through the backing, it is necessary to have the design on the surface sheet 3 printed in colors that will dissolve in the medium used for lamination and with which the backing sheet is saturated to draw the color of the design through the backing sheet. We have found that the inexpensive printed tissue available on the market, and which is printed in water colors, is very effective when the backing is saturated with liquid latex or its equivalent as the liquid latex has the property of drawing the water colors printed on the sheet clear through the entire thickness of the backing. Where it is not desired to have the color of the surface sheet 3 transferred onto or extending through the thickness of the backing we can use any printed surface sheet regardless of the character of the pigment with which the design on the surface sheet is printed.

In order to render our sheet material fire-proof, or at least fire-resisting, we may mix with the latex (or its equivalent) some transparent, fireproofing resin, which is thoroughly transparent and which we discovered combines well with latex without affecting its bond or its color drawing capacity.

For certain purposes we may sprinkle on the surface of the backing I, after it has been treated with latex and laminated with the printed design tissue 3, but prior to its vulcanization and with the printed design tissue 3 retained or removed, any granulated substance, such as wood flour, silk and cotton flock, or asbestos powder,

or the like, thereby imparting to the finished sheet material a granular decorated appearance producing a close imitation of ceramics.

According to our invention we are able to produce imitation shoe leather in the same unlimited variety of designs by utilizing a backing of the proper texture, treating it with latex, and laminating thereon a sheet of printed paper bearing the desired design, thereby producing a shoe leather which has the color of the design extending throughout its thickness, the sheet of printed tissue being retained or removed at will. It is also within the scope of our invention to decorate the plain imitation shoe leather now available on the market by transferring thereonto through the medium of latex a design of any inexpensive printed tissue available on the market and this is accomplished by coating the imitation or artificial leater with latex, applying a printed design tissue thereonto, and pressing the same together for a relatively short period of time, whereupon the printed tissue may be removed and the color thereof is thus transferred on the artificial shoe leather. Since it is necessary, particularly in the manufacture of ladies shoes, to produce color and'design effects which will match the endless variety of their dresses, it will be seen that by our invention we are enabled to produce at a negligible cost either our own artificial or imitation leather or to decorate artificial or imitation leather now available in a practically unlimited number of designs as contradistinguished from the very limited number of colors or designs now available.

In order to produce an imitation oil-cloth, we utilize a textile backing of the desired thickness and texture and saturate it with liquid latex, and if it is desired to have the oil-cloth decorated we apply to said sheet a printed tissue having the desired design and we subsequently peel olf or retain the printed tissue and coat the sheet thus decorated with the varnish or other wearing surface. The imitation oil-cloth thus produced, unlike the conventional oil-cloth which is prepared by linseed oil or a similar substance, is acid and heat-resisting and is more flexible and hence more durable and not given to cracking or peeling off at the corners of the table or wherever it is creased, as is the case with conventional oil-cloth. Furthermore, our oil-cloth will have the advan-- tage, if so desired, of having the color of the printed tissue applied thereto penetrating throughout its entire thickness so that it presents the same attractive appearance until it is worn completely through.

As far as we are aware, we are the first to utilize liquid latex, or its equivalent, to draw the color of an inexpensive tissue through a suitable, loosely knit, inexpensive fibrous backing or to transfer in decalcomania fashion the color from a sheet of thin, inexpensive printed tissue onto another sheet of material indelibly and by the mere process of coating a sheet material with latex, applying thereto a printed tissue, and then removing the printed tissue. We also believe ourselves to be the first to impregnate an inexpensive, thin tissue with liquid latex, or its equivalent, to produce a flexible, tough and transparent resilient sheet which constitutes a good substitute for cellophane but which is also water-proof, and, ii desired we can add any desired fire-reaisting, transparent material which will render our sheet material also fire-proof. We also believe ourselves to be the first to eliminate the necessity of making dies for printing in one or more operations on sheet material whatever design is necessary, and that we are the first to take advantage of the hundreds of thousands of designs available on inexpensive, thin tissue, and to transfer onto or to draw through a sheet material of the proper texture the design from a thin printed tissue.

While we have illustrated the invention as applied to the manufacture of floor covering, lamp shades, window curtains, and imitation shoe leather, it is to be understood that the enumeration of these articles is intended to be illustrative rather than delimitive of the scope of the invention, and that our novel product and the method by which it is produced are equally applicable with the production of sheet material which is laminated or unlaminated, decorated or undecorated, with or without water and fireresisting characteristics.

We claim:

1. The method of making sheet material which consists in placing a sheet of printed tissue over a sheet of Japanese tissue, and laminating said sheets with liquid rubber.

2. The method of making sheet material which consists in superimposing a design bearing printed tissue on a backing, laminating said tissue to said backing, and causing the printed design on said tissue to run clear through the thickness of said backing.

3. The method of making sheet material which consists in superimposing a design bearing printed tissue on a backing, laminating said tissue to said backing, causing the printed design on said tissue to run clear through the thickness of said backing, and peeling off said printed tissue.

4. The method of making sheet material which consists in superimposing a design bearing printed tissue on a backing, laminating said tissue to said backing, causing the printed design on said tissue to run clear through the thickness of said backing, and treating the laminated product with a wearing surface.

5. The method of making sheet material which consists in utilizing a fibrous backing, superimposing thereon a sheet of Japanese tissue, superimposing on said tissue a thin sheet of design bearing printed paper, and finally laminating said backing and said sheets with liquid rubber.

6. The method of making sheet material which consists in utilizing a backing, superimposing thereon a relatively thin sheet of Japanese tissue, superimposing on said tissue a thin sheet of design bearing printed paper, laminating said backing and said sheets with liquid rubber, and finally treating the laminated sheets with a varnish.

7. As an article of manufacture, a backing and a superimposed design bearing printed tissue, said backing and said tissue being laminated with liquid latex.

8. As an article of manufacture, a backing and a superimposed design bearing printed tissue, said backing and said tissue being laminated with liquid latex and coated with a wearing surface.

9. The method of making sheet material which consists in laminating a relatively thin design bearing printed tissue to a flexible backing by means of latex.

10. As an article of manufacture, a backing, a design bearing printed tissue superimposed thereon, said tissue and said backing being laminated with latex and vulcanized.

11. The method of making sheet material which consists in laminating a relatively thin design bearing printed tissue to a flexible backing by means of latex and subjecting said backing and said tissue to a vulcanizing process.

12. The method of decorating a sheet material which consists in superficially coating said sheet material with liquid latex, applying to the surface thereof a design bearing tissue printed in water-color, and removing said printed tissue.

ELBERT A. CORBIN, JR. ELLWOOD W. WOLF. 

